KUALA LUMPUR: The Petaling Jaya City Council (MBPJ) has started an internal investigation against its enforcement officers following the circulation of a video in which its officers can be seen roughing up an old man during an operation to capture stray dogs.
In a brief reply to New Straits Times (NST), an MBPJ spokesman said the probe had been initiated immediately after the council was alerted to the circulation of the video.
"The matter is being investigated," the spokesman said in a brief reply to the NST after this paper forwarded videos and pictures of the incident to him.
Meanwhile, in a related development, a police report against the enforcement officers will be lodged at the Petaling Jaya police station later this afternoon.
Malaysia Independent Animal Rescue (MIAR) in a Facebook statement today has also called on the public to rally support for action to be taken against the enforcement officers.
"We need to work together to put a stop to this unruly behaviour by the MBPJ and other council staff," the group posted.
Earlier today, several videos and pictures of an old man being roughed up by the Petaling Jaya City Council (MBPJ) enforcement officers started making the rounds on social media.
In one of the videos, the group of uniformed council officers can be seen beating the old man, who was trying to protect his dogs from being captured, with dog-catching iron rods.
In a public post, a Facebook user detailed an account of the incident along with videos and pictures.
The user claimed to have known the elderly man and his dogs for years and described them as harmless and well-cared for.
She further claimed that the team of officers forced the situation to escalate to violence and the old man was left with injuries to his jaw, cheek and a cut on his wrist.
The video has since caused outrage in social media over the rough-hand tactics used by the council officers during the stray dog round-up operation.
Netizens have also expressed their disgust at the officers' actions and called for justice for the man and his dogs.